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Thursday, June 25, 2015

Number of Vietnamese Students in the U.S. Rising Steadily

By Jordan FriedmanWorld Education Services

As Vietnam’s economy stabilizes, the number of college students it sends to the U.S. rises.

A new report from WES’ Research and Advisory Services team delves into four emerging markets from which the U.S. expects to more heavily recruit students in the upcoming years, and Vietnam is one of them (along with Brazil, Indonesia and Nigeria). Throughout the past 13 years, the number of Vietnamese students enrolled in U.S. colleges has risen steadily; 16,579 Vietnamese students came to the U.S. in 2013-14, making Vietnam the eighth ranked country in terms of international students in the U.S. Based on data from the Institute of International Education, the country has seen a 26 percent increase in this number since 2009-10.In recent years, Vietnam has experienced economic growth that has permitted middle-class families to send their children overseas for an education at a younger age, according to the WES report. However, many Vietnamese students still face financial obstacles, causing a significant number of them to enroll in two-year community colleges rather than four-year undergraduate programs. Students from Vietnam made up 7.4 percent of the total international student body attending community colleges in 2013-14.

With these financial obstacles in mind, the WES study encourages colleges and universities to place more emphasis on promoting scholarship and financial aid opportunities to students from Vietnam. As an example, the study points to Vietnamese students at Miami University, who typically pay an average of about $20,000 annually. For many of these students, the remainder of their tuition comes from merit-based scholarships. The study emphasizes that these scholarship opportunities are one of the reasons Vietnamese students are attracted to the U.S. in the first place.

If you’re a student from Vietnam considering studying the U.S., you’re certainly in good company. Before submitting your application, you should read up on financial aid and merit-based scholarships in the U.S. Check out this blog post for more information.